1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a connector system that permits a titanium heater element to be welded to a titanium conductor transition for use in gas turbine applications. More specifically, the present invention is related to a connector system that permits a titanium heater element to be welded to a titanium conductor transition for use in gas turbine applications that is then connected to a copper conductor thus allowing conventional joining techniques.
2. Description of Related Art
The operating environment of aerospace components is extremely harsh. This is particularly so for the many fragile electrical connections that must be maintained for proper function. Conventionally, the electrical connections to the aircraft are achieved by soldering conventional copper electric wire, metal pins or metal tabs to heater pad areas using typical tin-lead electronic solders. These connections can be achieved either prior to or after the heater substrate bonding operations. The exiting copper conductor wires are generally routed to an electrical connector, which is fabricated separately. The soldered joint is then sealed by encapsulation with a polymer to eliminate the environmental effects and provide strain relief.
While this technique is understood and useful for copper and nickel resistive alloys, other applications benefit from the attachment of copper conductors to titanium resistive alloys in gas turbine engines. One such application is the use of surface mounted titanium metal foil heaters in gas turbine applications. Soldering the titanium foil and copper wire with tin-lead solders requires the titanium metal foil to be plated either electrolytically or electro-less with copper or nickel. These processes add cost, contamination sources for bonding to the encapsulation compound and potential site for solder joint failure. These and other disadvantages also exist, when using titanium, copper and tin-lead in a high temperature environment.
Accordingly, there is a need for a connector to connect the titanium foil of a turbine component to a titanium weld conductor for connection to a copper conductor which allows conventional soldering techniques.